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Evo recovers the political initiative; the coup plotters regroup.

Heinz Dieterich, October 13

Why did the coup fail?

We won the battle of October 11. Now we need to win the war. As a starting point it is useful to comprehend what were the reasons for the defeat of the coup plotters. There are three factors. 1) The democratic counteroffensive completely surprised the conspirators and had such a global impact that it succeeded in concentrating the world’s interest on Bolivia. 2) The efficient and rapid divulgence of information inside Bolivia that mobilised the people and divided the coup plotting social front of taxi drivers, prefects, mining sectors and others. The indigenous-popular mobilisation organised in La Paz by the government and the social proposals from the president at the event capitalised on this conjuncture and succeeded in lowering the tension of the political environment. 3) The categorical reaction of President Hugo Chavez who with enormous strategic sensibility and a sense of urgency put the power of the democratic Latin American states into the balance of power, against the new pinochetistas.

The regroupment of the pinochetistas and the scenarios of a new coup

The civil and military coup plotters have undertaken a tactical retreat that has allowed them to redefine their scenarios for a new uprising. At this moment they have two scenarios: scenario “A” anticipates, that the coup will be carried out in the week of October 23 to 29; “B” plans that the prefects of the four insubordinate states declare in a few months their independence and that the Armed Forces refuse to suppress them.

Plan “A” is now very unlikely and the almost certain electoral triumph of Rafael Correa in the elections in Ecuador this Sunday will further reduce its viability. Moreover, the new president is confirmed as a speaker in the “First Encounter of the Peoples and States for the Liberation of the Grand Homeland” in Sucre, Bolivia, October 27-29, and it is unlikely that the coup plotters would want to the take prisoner the president-elect of Ecuador, together with many other international personalities who will participate in the event (see www.bloquerpp.org). Scenario “B” is, for now, the more realistic.

A Great part of the military high command has reservations in the government of Evo

Bolivians who know well the internal situation in the Bolivian Armed Forces (FAB) estimate that around 90% of the high command are not in agreement with the government of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) of Evo Morales. High officials from other Latin American Armed Forces share the opinion that the general officer personnel do not identify with the president’s historic project.

The early passing into retirement of 28 generals and admirals by the president (January 24) has not qualitatively changed this situation. On September 23, the ex-commander of the army, Marcelo Antezana, a general in the active reserves, declared to the newspaper La Prensa that the Armed Forces are concerned by the supposed intentions of the president of installing a “dictatorial and absolutist” regime and its adhesion to the “Cuba-Venezuela axis”. He assured that the army could intervene in the case that the subscribed promises were not abide by: “if the politicians do not comply, the Armed Forces will act”.

As far as the signalled out “axis”, that “deals with a Cuba-Venezuela alignment. This decision is worrying the Armed Forces. From a neoliberal power we are passing over to a clearly socialist power as part of the Cuba-Venezuela axis” he added. On the president he stated his opinion was that Evo Morales is a campesino leader, “initially of excellent conditions, but badly orientated. Evo has allowed himself to be captured by an international current… integrated by the mulattos from the Caribbean”.

The Chilean subversion

Whilst the high ranking Bolivian military figures do not like the mulattos, they do however like the white pinochetistas from the murderous Chilean army. On August 17, the current General Commander of the Bolivian army, Freddy Bersatti, accompanied by a delegation of high ranking officials, were invited by the Chilean army to receive “the replica of the Sword of Bernardo O’Higgins, a distinction handed over by the Chilean army to illustrious visitors”. “Together with this sword, receive the offer from the Chilean army of it opening its schools to the Bolivian army and its members” said the Chief Commander of the Chilean army, General Oscar Izurieta, “so that with your presence in our courses you can contribute towards giving certainty to the strengthening of peace”.

It will be the certainty of the “peace of the cemetery” that the Chilean military will teach its counterparts from the altiplano, just as they learnt alongside Pinochet. It was probably during this civilising “peace” mission that two generals of the Chilean army travelled from La Paz to Santa Cruz three weeks ago, to meet with the civic committee and with the factious prefect of Santa Cruz. It would be good if President Bachelet asked for an investigation into this mission by her military.

The new spring between the pinochetista generals and the Bolivian generals was prolonged by one extra week in the country of O’Higgins. On the other hand for military cooperation with Venezuela, the necessary time was not found. A working mission in Venezuela was cancelled without a major explanation by the Bolivian generals, possibly frustrated by the impossibility of the Venezuelans to satisfy for free their utopian andexcessive petitions for war materials and instructors.

The subversion by the Chilean inheritors of Operation Condor, in Bolivia, is being used by Croatian fascist groups in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. During the Second World War, the majority of the Nazi allies in Eastern Europe had been headed by Catholic political parties. With the collapse of the Germany Nazi regime, the CIA, the Vatican and some of the secular organisations, for example “Intermarium”, as well as the International Red Cross, helped these clerical, fascist and Nazi war criminals escape to South America, particularly Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia.

With the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the last few years, some of these groups have been refascistised and consider themselves a bulwark of Christian and western civilisation against “the indians” from the altiplano, just as they did 500 years ago with the Turks. They therefore put forward the secession of the cambas (whites) of the East from the collas (indigenous peoples) of the [West]. It is thought that they already have 400 paramilitaries.

The godfather appears: Mr Goldberg

Within this scenario appeared only two weeks ago (September 29) the new ambassador for the United States, Philip Goldberg, as the organic link between the Chilean destabilisers, the Croats and the Empire. From 2001 to 2004, Goldberg served as second chief (Deputy Chief of Mission) for the United States’ mission in Santiago de Chile. From 2004 to 2006 he was the chief of the diplomatic mission for the United States in Kosovo and head of the negotiating team in Dayton (Ohio) that sealed the dismemberment of the old Yugoslavia. A man with the perfect profile to help the four eastern states of Bolivia become independent.

The destabilser Alan Garcia

It did not take long for the empire to cashing in its favour owing from Alan Garcia for putting him in the presidency in Peru via electoral fraud, an electoral campaign designed by a specialist in psychological dirty war, Dick Morris, ex-chief of Bill Clinton’s election campaign, and an ominous attitude towards Ollanta Humala.

On leaving a meeting with George Bush, on October 10, Garcia attacked Evo Morales just as his godfather had waiting for: “In South America there is a severe problem, where a new fundamentalism is growing, Andean fundamentalism, that mobilises large ethnic crowds, and in many cases is tied, for example, to the cultivation of coca leaf”. “This Andean fundamentalism, which could have consequences as important as Muslim fundamentalism, could signify a danger of instability in South America”.

The reverberation box of the White House

A recent agreement for financial and logistical support between Venezuela and Bolivia for the construction of some military bases (Riberalta, Puerto Guijarro), necessary in order to guard the strategic routes of this Andean country, has been used by the Paraguayan government, the press and the political right in Peru and Chile to create a matrix of hemispheric opinion against the Bolivian government.

The oligarchic Chilean newspaper, El Mercurio, which played a key role in the destruction of the Allende’s Popular Unity, is once again participating in the campaign, as well as the Peruvian foreign minister, Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde, who affirmed on October 11 that the government of Alan Garcia is worried by the convention of military cooperation between La Paz and Caracas in order to construct military installations in Bolivia.

The United States ambassador in Asuncion, James Cason, advised Paraguay that “it should not fall asleep”, faced with the developments in Bolivia, alluding to the Chaco war (1932-1935) between the two countries. The Chilean deputy from the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), Ivan Moreira, spoke out saying that “Chile can not be removed from the threat posed by a country which develops an expansionist policy, such as Venezuela, with this military exchange through an agreement with Bolivia where they are going to install more than 20 military bases. I believe that in some way or another it could be dangerous to Chilean sovereignty, it could be dangerous for our relations and the government needs to be alert”.

We ask the government to reformulate and strengthen its foreign policy with Latin America and that “it become aware of what it does not want to see, like the threat, that in one way or other, President Chavez represents for Latin America, and that finally this agreement with Bolivia, this military agreement… can be dangerous for the security of our country”.

How can we neutralise the coup plotters?

To win the war against the pinochetistas it is necessary for the Bolivian government to combine, in an urgent way, a generous economic and social policy for the majorities, with the search for internal political and military alliances, the improvement of its weak means of mass media and the construction of a powerful Latin American front, as much of peoples as of states.

The foreseeable electoral triumphs of Rafael Correa in Ecuador, Lula in Brazil, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela indicate that this year can be the decisive year for the destruction of the Monroe Doctrine and the construction of the Latin American Regional Power Bloc and its Regional Popular Power Bloc, which will be constituted in Sucre, October 27-29.

“We call on the peoples and governments of Latin America to stand up, together… to defend the legitimacy of our governments and peace” said President Chavez in his declaration against the coup of October 11.

This is the strategic alliance with which we will win the war against the pinochetistas of the entire Americas!